An Acoustic Telemetry System for Ecohydrology Research

The Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) was developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study the behavior and survival of juvenile fish in freshwater and marine environment. It employs acoustic transmitters and receiving systems to remotely track fish in one, two, or three dimensions with sub-meter accuracy. Although the JSATS was initially developed and has been extensively used to study juvenile salmonids in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, its utility is applicable to a wide range of aquatic species, research goals, and locations. The JSATS has also been used to monitor the movements of many other species such as European eel sea trout, channel catfish, smallmouth bass, northern pikeminnow, walleye, lamprey, and sturgeon; fish behavior in relation to a variety of waterpower structures; and in many other geographic locations including California, Australia and Brazil. Over one hundred thousand fish varying in size from 85-1000 mm have been studied with JSATS tags since 2005. In each study, more than 100 GB data could be collected in two weeks. To facilitate the data processing of such large data sets, many software packages were developed to streamline the data analytics process. Among them, JSATS Data Filtering Software was used for data reduction and data filtering. It implements the multipath filter and the PRI filter and outputs valid detections in a pre-defined data structure; JSATS Tracking Software uses the maximum likelihood solver for localizing tagged fish in 3D. The JSATS system and data analysis software were also successfully adapted for tracking vocalizing marine animals.